LIFESTYLE

How We Saved Lots of Money Living in a Trailer for Six Months

And why we decided to do it again

The rain is gently dropping onto the roof as I’m lying in bed typing these lines. The window is open and I can feel the fresh air. The summer’s heat is gone. Fall is waiting at the door.

Our second season of living in a trailer is slowly coming to an end and we know for sure, it won’t be the last. While there have been many ups and downs, living in this version of a tiny home allows us to live the lifestyle we do.

David and I are both skydiving instructors and have multiple ratings to take passengers on a tandem skydive or teach students how to jump. This alone makes us stand out from the crowds but there is more behind the scenes.

Our job is seasonal in that sense you can only skydive six to seven months a year in the northern hemisphere. This fact turned us into nomads moving and traveling across different countries. We’ve worked so far on three different continents.

Moving every few months doesn’t make it worthwhile owning property anywhere and even further, it makes it tricky to find a place to rent for such a short time period. Most places want year-long contracts which we can’t sign.

While we have always found a solution, most of our homes were small one-bedroom apartments costing us very little in rent. During high season we work from sunrise until sunset and just go home to sleep. Therefore all we really need is a comfy bed and a place to cook.

When we’re off work we’re out anyways. We love to travel and explore and take every opportunity we get to go on vacation or a short day trip.

When we got last year’s job offer in northern Germany, they told us we could stay in a trailer on-site for the season. We agreed. Without ever having seen it before. We signed a contract for work and the rental of the trailer while still in Thailand.

Now, if I say trailer, you shouldn’t imagine one of those luxurious RV kind of vehicles roaming the highways in the States. This trailer is older than I am, is not road-worthy anymore, and has no bathroom inside.

The trailer is located right at the airfield inside a trailer park with many others of its kind in all different stages of conditions. Living at work, we had no expenses on fuel or commuting to work and our rent was as little as your monthly Starbucks bill.

While David said at the end of the season he’d never do it again, it really wasn’t all that bad as it allowed us so much travel through saving on rent.

And this is how we ended up a second season in a row at a different company on a new airfield in another old trailer. Slightly bigger but not newer.

Let me dive into the comforts we didn’t have.

• A private bathroom
• A toilet in our trailer
• Running water
• A big fridge
• Personal space
• Space from work
• Space in general

And the features that made us save money.

• Very cheap rent
• No maintenance fees
• No money spent on commuting to work
• Low expenses on gas (unless we go on a road trip)
• Communal showers with shower tokens or a monthly water bill of 35€
• Only drive our car once every ten days to go shopping
• Cook our own food versus eating out
• Not passing a bakery or food stall on the way to work and quickly grabbing a snack (those purchases add up)

By now, David doesn’t refer to us as ‘living like the homeless’ anymore but just tells everyone how much money we save by not renting a flat and telling them how he visited parts of Sweden, Poland, Czechia, Portugal, Malta, Italy, Hungary, Romania and Austria all while working two seasons in Germany and affording to take two full months off during the winter to travel through five African countries.

Yes, living the way we do isn’t for everyone. Our living standards are low but so are our expenses. Since our priorities aren’t set on showing off with a house to friends but rather on seeing as much as possible of the world, this is the perfect home for us.

Since we are stationary for the season, it also doesn’t make sense to buy a van or RV on our own as they would give us less space than this old but big trailer and just cost us insurance and maintenance fees.

Yes, it is annoying to get up and out of the trailer to go to the bathroom when it is raining or dark outside but if that is all I am complaining about, I’d do it again. In a heartbeat.

A short photo essay about the night sky in the trailer park:

And read here what others have to say on the topic. Fellow Medium writer The Sturg plans ahead on how he will spend his winter living in an RV. And Sophia Tell-Stories analyzes the dream of van life. It’s certainly a lifestyle not for everyone. Some don’t have a choice. Others do it by choice and it can be a money saver.

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